1988 Land Rover Range Rover Reviews

1988 Land Rover Range Rover SE 3.5 EFI from Netherlands

Summary:

Even with the British glitches, there's nothing else giving me such a great feeling to drive

Faults:

When bought, the battery was nearly dead and needed to be replaced after 2 months of winter-cold.

The alternator was the real problem, not charging the battery enough and had to be overhauled after 10 months. A complete overhaul cost 150 Euros, although a new replacement can be found cheaper, but I do like the original ruggedness, and at least you know that it will fit in without a glitch, costing me only 1/4 hour to replace.

The speedometer was not working well when I bought it, and I found a new one for 80 pounds which I replaced in a few hours.

The power steering box (PAS) was leaking when I bought it, and sealing-additive was good enough to get me going for 1 year. But then it really starting spilling oil and I bought a new PAS box for 180 pounds to replace it, which took me about a full weekend day.

General Comments:

This is a great car to drive in any weather, you'll feel safe wherever you go and gives great fun. The powerful V8 has a terrific sound, the driving position is great and very comfortable, even when driving long holiday routes for thousands of kilometers.

It has enough power to go with the flow of modern autobahns, comfortable cruising at 130-140 km/h speeds and overseeing the road ahead in very heavy traffic.

Lots of room in the back for a complete family to go on holiday, even when the boot is filled with a 80 litre LPG tank, you can still look through the rear window.

The fun is that this car is my youth-dream come true, and as parts are cheap and technology is quite simple, you can do it yourself and bring the car in a better shape than before.

The overall running costs are very decent at about 250 euros per month last year (over about 15000 kms), which is half what I would pay for my lease-car if I would drive that for private use (due to Dutch tax-regime).

Summary:

Faults:

Few major faults, although the fuel tank and sender units failed, although after 125000 miles, who can complain.

The nearside and offside front floor panels do suffer from rot, due to water splashing up from the front wheels.

The power steering box and front drive-shafts can leak slightly, although they can remain like this for many years before needing any major maintenance or overhaul.

General Comments:

Superb V8 engine, and extremely well designed interior.

Highly safe and reliable, with the power to cruise on the motorway as well as climb steep gradients off road.

Very high running costs on petrol, so I would recommend an LPG conversion (like the one I have fitted), which will enable the vehicle to return a cost equivalent of 37 miles per gallon, as gas costs between 33 and 37 pence per litre.